Planning board can end lawsuit

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To the Editor:

To the Editor:

The MVRHS school committee has been attacked by opponents of the proposed synthetic turf field, demanding that the committee withdraw their suit against the Oak Bluffs planning board’s illegal denial of a permit for the proposed project.

The reason the Oak Bluffs planning board chairman, Ewell Hopkins, has stated for his position is to prevent the proposed field from leaching PFAS chemicals into the Island’s aquifer.

Mr. Hopkins has received the two attached reports from the firm the MVC contracted to test the synthetic field materials for PFAS. Both scientific analyses state that the proposed synthetic field is not a danger to the aquifer.

Mr Hopkins could end this lawsuit, but he has chosen not to, not because of a danger to the aquifer, but for personal reasons.

Please see the Weston & Sampson reports summaries below:

Summary of 2/26/21 Testing from Tetra Tech: Based on our review and the current regulatory standards for PFAS in Massachusetts, there are no significant risks associated with the discharge of PFAS from the synthetic turf field into groundwater.

Summary 10/28/2022 Soil testing Oak Bluffs & MVRHS Playing Field: The PFAS analyses of soils collected at 100 Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road and 50 Tradewinds Road on July 7, 2022, indicates:

  •  The presence of between three (3) and eight (8) individual PFAS at concentrations below Massachusetts and EPA guidelines for direct contact and protection of groundwater,
  • Reported soil concentrations are below the proposed UTLs presented in the Vermont Background PFAS in Soil Study, and
  • The PFAS concentrations in soils are similar to, or greater than, nearly all synthetic turf component concentrations provided in the TetraTech Feb. 26, 2021, Synthetic Turf Laboratory Testing and Analysis Summary Report.

Terry Donahue
Edgartown